Masonry Magazine September 2002 Page. 37
General Contracting vs. Construction Management
The General Contractor (GC) and Construction Manager (CM) roles in construction projects are distinct, though sometimes confused. CMs tend to act more like GCs by employing virtually all sub-contractors and little of their own forces on a particular job. Still, there are definable limits and attributes that do separate the two. Here are some accepted differences and similarities between the GC and the CM.
General Contracting
Let's start with the General Contractor. You are probably more familiar with the GC. These are often older, family-owned-and-run operations perhaps two or three generations deep-that, with an annual volume of around $10 million, may employ anywhere from three to seven people full-time in the office and several additional full-time tradespeople to act as key field personnel. These outside players can be carpenters who double as job superintendents, but might just as easily be cement masons, bricklayers or excavators, depending on the GC's specialized area of work. In addition, the GC will often engage even more full or part-time help to make up the crews that perform the GC's "in-house" works, that is, work done by his or her own forces, not sub-contracted.
This entire group of full-time employees, those who enjoy the accepted employer fringes and benefits such as health insurance, retirement plans, vacation, etc., might be called the nucleus of the GC's organization. The remaining work would be supplemented with outside sub-contractors, suppliers, temp workers, and other independent contractors and firms those providing their own benefits. Keeping all of these employees on the payroll is an attribute more common to the GC and one notable difference between the GC and the CM structure.
Another characteristic that separates the GC from the CM is in how work is obtained. Although many older and more established GC's enjoy a fair percentage of negotiated work, the majority of work taken on by the GC comes through the competitive-bid process. This is particularly true when the GC is new to the field or the locale and doesn't yet have the name recognition and/or repeat clientele of the older, more established firms.
The competitive-bid process goes something like this: An outside architect is hired by the owner to draft the plans and specifications for the project. Normally, this firm is retained to assist with preliminary budgets, to structure and oversee the bid process, and then supervise the actual construction.
A selected number of GC's are invited to submit blind, competitive-bid proposals for the project. The proposals will be based
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The Voice of the Mason Contractor
September 2002
Masonry 35